Meeting of the Parliament 08 October 2025
Conservatives in Scotland believe that economic growth has to be the first priority of Government. That need has never been more urgent than now.
The quarterly economic indicator survey published today by Scottish Chambers and the Fraser of Allander Institute contains some stark messages. In four out of five main business sectors, there has been a sharp decline in confidence, with manufacturing and construction—two of the most important sectors to the Scottish economy—being the hardest hit, and 72 per cent of Scottish businesses are now concerned about their tax burden. Against that backdrop, seeing this Government place a greater focus on economic growth is essential.
Is it not interesting that, today, the Scottish National Party wants to talk about independence—the only thing that it cares about? However, Scottish Conservatives are on the side of the people, and talking about their priority, which is growing the economy and dealing with household bills.
When it comes to taking spending decisions on the extensive resources that are under the control of the Scottish Government, there needs to be a focus on expenditure that will actively contribute towards growing our economy. Against that backdrop, the report on Scotland’s colleges, which Audit Scotland published on Friday, contained some stark and concerning messages. It follows on from equally stark messages in the Scottish Funding Council report issued just a few days beforehand, which warned that some colleges face insolvency in the current financial year—they face actual insolvency, under this SNP Government.
According to Audit Scotland, college funding has suffered from a 20 per cent real-terms cut in spending over the past five years. We see the consequences of that on every campus in Scotland. The Audit Scotland report states that the college sector workforce contracted by some 8 per cent in the year 2023-24 alone.
In the region that I represent, all the colleges are impacted. Fife College is expressing concern about the availability of future courses. UHI Perth had to save some £4 million by the middle of the year. It has already had to close the campus nursery, while also contemplating staff redundancies and cutting what it calls “unviable courses”. It has even discussed cutting degree courses entirely.
Lastly, Forth Valley College is proposing to close its popular and busy Alloa campus, meaning that any Clackmannanshire students would have to travel to Stirling for further education, leaving a substantial black hole in the centre of the town and the centre of the county. That is bad news for staff, bad news for students and bad news for the local economy.